In a distributed file system, a metadata node tracks metadata such as directory structure and locations of where data of the file system are distributed. Changes to the directory structure or locations of data in the file system need to be tracked and obtained from the metadata node. Thus if the metadata node becomes unavailable, the entire distributed file system may become unavailable. Although a backup metadata node may be used to replace an unusable metadata node, the replacement of the metadata node requires time and human intervention (e.g., a system administrator) to manually shut down the unusable metadata node, prepare the backup metadata node as the new metadata node, and configure other components of the distributed file system to use the new metadata node. Not only does this manual process consume valuable human resources, the file system becomes unusable for a prolonged period of time during the human intervention. Additionally, a client using the metadata node that becomes unusable needs to efficiently handle the failure. Therefore, there exists need for a better way to resolve situations when a metadata node becomes not fully functional.